Rajnesh
V. Neha & Anr.(2021) 2 SCC 324 : (2021) 2 SCC (Civ) 220, On 4 November,
2020
Bench:
Hon’Ble Ms. Malhotra, R. Subhash Reddy
Facts of the Case:
·
The Respondent (wife) left the
matrimonial home, shortly after the birth of the son.
·
The wife then filed an application for
interim maintenance u/S. 125 Cr.P.C. on behalf of herself and the minor son.
·
The Family Court vide a detailed Order
awarded interim maintenance of Rs.15,000 per month to the wife and Rs.5,000 per
month as interim maintenance for the son from 01.09.2013 to 31.08.2015 and Rs.
10,000 per month from 01.09.2015 onwards till further orders were passed in the
main petition.
·
The Appellant (husband) challenged the
Order of the Family Court vide Criminal Writ Petition filed before the Bombay
High Court. The High Court dismissed the Writ Petition and affirmed the
Judgment passed by the Family Court
·
Aggrieved with the order of the Hight
Court, the husband appealed before the Supreme Court.
Issues of the present case:
·
Whether the wife can claim maintenance
under different enactments?
·
Is there a time limit for the disposal
of proceedings relating to interim maintenance?
·
What are the criteria for determining
the quantum of maintenance?
·
Whether the payment of maintenance will
be awarded from the date of the order or the date of filing of the application?
·
Whether there are any procedures for
enforcement of orders of maintenance or not?
Judgement
The Supreme Court bench in this case has framed guidelines on the
issue of maintenance, which would cover overlapping jurisdiction under
different enactments for payment of maintenance, payment of Interim
Maintenance, the criteria for determining the quantum of maintenance, the date
from which maintenance is to be awarded, and enforcement of orders of maintenance.
1.Overlapping jurisdiction
The present legislations dealing with the issue of maintenance are
Section 125 of the Cr.P.C, 1973; Hindu Marriage Act, 1955; Special Marriage
Act, 1954; Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956; and the Protection of
Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
On the issue of overlapping jurisdiction of the above mentioned
legislations the Supreme Court directed that, in subsequent maintenance
proceeding, the applicant should disclose the previous maintenance proceedings
and the orders passed in them, so that the court would take into consideration
the maintenance already awarded in the previous proceeding, and grant an
adjustment or set-off of the said amount.
2.The Supreme Court on the issue of payment of interim maintenance directed
the following:
- The affidavits of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities
shall be filed by both the parties in all maintenance proceedings before
the concerned Court as the case may be, throughout the country.
- If any further information is required, the concerned
court may pass appropriate orders in respect thereof.
- The income of one party is often not within the
knowledge of the other spouse. Hence, the Court may invoke Section 106 of
the Evidence Act, 1872 if necessary, since the income, assets and liabilities
of the spouse are within the personal knowledge of the party concerned.
- If during the course of proceedings, there is a change
in the financial status of any party, or there is a change of any relevant
circumstances, or if some new information comes to light, the party may
submit an amended / supplementary affidavit, which would be considered by
the court at the time of final determination.
- The pleadings made in the applications for maintenance
and replies filed should be responsible pleadings; if false statements and
misrepresentations are made, the Court may consider initiation of
proceeding u/S. 340 Cr.P.C., and for contempt of Court.
- In case the parties belong to the Economically Weaker
Sections (“EWS”), or are living Below the Poverty Line (“BPL”), or are
casual labourers, the requirement of filing the Affidavit would be
dispensed with.
- The concerned Family Court / District Court /
Magistrate’s Court must make an endeavour to decide the I.A. for Interim
Maintenance by a reasoned 37 order, within a period of four to six months
at the latest, after the Affidavits of Disclosure have been filed before
the court.
3. The Supreme Court on the issue of
permanent alimony gave the following directions:
Parties may lead oral and documentary
evidence with respect to income, expenditure, standard of living, etc. before
the concerned Court, for fixing the permanent alimony payable to the spouse.
In contemporary society, where several
marriages do not last for a reasonable length of time, it may be inequitable to
direct the contesting spouse to pay permanent alimony to the applicant for the
rest of her life. The duration of the marriage would be a relevant factor to be
taken into consideration for determining the permanent alimony to be paid.
Provision for grant of reasonable expenses
for the marriage of children must be made at the time of determining permanent
alimony, where the custody is with the wife. The expenses would be determined
by taking into account the financial position of the husband and the customs of
the family.
If there are any trust funds / investments
created by any spouse / grandparents in favour of the children, this would also
be taken into consideration while deciding the final child support.
4. The Supreme Court further directed in the
judgment the criteria for determining the quantum of maintenance and provided
the following factors to be considered by the court:
·
Status
of the parties
·
Reasonable
needs of the wife and dependent children
·
Whether
the applicant is educated and professionally qualified
·
Whether
the applicant has any independent source of income
·
Whether
the income is sufficient to enable her to maintain the same standard of living
as she was accustomed to in her matrimonial home
·
Whether
the applicant was employed prior to her marriage
·
Whether
she was working during the subsistence of the marriage
·
Whether
the wife was required to sacrifice her employment opportunities for nurturing
the family, child rearing, and looking after adult members of the family
·
Reasonable
costs of litigation for a non-working wife
·
The
financial capacity of the husband
·
His
actual income
·
The
spiraling inflation rates and high costs of living
·
Reasonable
expenses for his own maintenance, and dependent family members whom he is
obliged to maintain under the law, his liabilities if any.
5. Further the Supreme Court held that
maintenance in all cases will be awarded from the date of filing the
application for the maintenance before the concerned court. For enforcement/
execution of the orders of maintenance, an order or decree of maintenance may
be enforced under Section 28A of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1956; Section 20(6) of
the D.V. Act; and Section 128 of Cr.P.C., as may be applicable. The order of
maintenance may be enforced as a money decree of a civil court as per the
provisions of the CPC, more particularly Sections 51, 55, 58, 60 r.w. Order
XXI.
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